As the US rapper prepares to release his new album, AZ reflects on life in the new music video for “Uniqueness”
AZ‘s (real name Anthony Cruz) new album is shaping up to be one of sizeable proportions. His new single, “Uniqueness“, gets accompanying visuals, and it’s refreshing to see one of the OGs refrain from using tacky visuals. The Doe or Die III rapper is one of the most formidable talents in hip-hop, with a knack for stylistic wordplay and a solid grasp of phonetic rhyming.
It’s criminal that he has yet to receive his flowers from the community, especially with a portfolio and history to back an enduring legacy. From the echoes of “Everything is Everything” and “Problems”, AZ returns to his best on a composition by Mike & Keys.
Review: Upcoming Album Set to Be A Hip-Hop Treasure
From the sonorous vocals he delivers to the palpable mood he builds, AZ is taking no chances when it comes to creating music. Contemporary drops often find their way astray from where the culture operates, and that soul is returned in a rhythmic carousel of cadence and intelligent writing.
Rather unique, I travel through beats,
Correlate with crime, most my kind is deceased
This is something Cruz has never shied away from when producing each of his songs, and that appears to be once again transcending into the final chapter of the Doe or Die series. Each of AZ’s albums carries the promise of enjoyment, and through the forging of creativity, where each track sounds like an anthem, that is no different on “Uniqueness”, where the rapper confronts his legacy, sobriety, health, wealth, and familial questions he likely mentally crossed paths with on his come-up. This release is a diaristic entry probing mortality and gratefulness, in a time when life has flashed before his eyes and many unknowingly speed that process up.
Leave a Reply